Pages

Wednesday, May 15, 2013

F1 drivers not to be fined for pitlane speeding offences any longer

2012 GPDA meeting

Formula 1 drivers no longer receive fines for pitlane speeding misdemeanour's since the FIA have agreed to a change of procedure.The FIA and the Grand Prix Driver's Association had come to an agreement, after the latter decided a major hike in the cost of F1 superlicences from 2013 onwoards, that drivers would not be fined for offences in the future.

The GPDA raised the issue that drivers were still being punished with fines for breaking the pitlane speed limit, even though they had an agreement in place.

The complication arose due to the F1 Sporting regulations which state that drivers should be fined $200 (USD) for every kilometer per hour they are over the speed limit.

According to reports in AUTOSPORT, the FIA agreed to look into the matter and confirmed on a deal where the teams would bear the revised fines of $100 for every kilometer per hour over the limit - with a maximum cap of $1000.

The clarification of this rule has been in place since the Bahrain Grand Prix and it explains why Valterri Bottas paid a fine of $2800 for doing 73.8 km/h in Australia, while Lotus had to shell out only $1000 for Kimi doing 93.2 km/h in Spain.